Greene and gold a good mix

However, the Cottesloe resident has forged a successful yet humble career in the industry, celebrating 30 years of trading as Solid Studio Gold and then Solid Gold in Hay Street.

‘When I left school, I was good at metalwork and maths, so my career guidance officer found me a job making wrought-iron gates in a factory,’ Mr Greene said.

‘They then suggested I go in to optical or jewellery but said it would be almost impossible to pursue jewellery because the industry had a strong Jewish connection and I was left-handed.’

Despite the odds, Mr Greene got an apprenticeship in Hatton Garden with a left-handed jeweller.

The travel bug took the trained jeweller through Europe, India, Afghanistan and the Middle East before he went from Singapore to Perth with just US$6 to his name.

‘When I got here I went through the jewellery section of the Yellow Pages and rang them all,’ Mr Greene said.

‘Ian J. Brown was the first person I worked for, and after four months I started my own company, Ring Craft, that I had in the early 1970s for 12 years in Hay Street.’

After selling that business and working under the new owners for two years, Mr Greene retired, aged 35, but only for six weeks, before starting Solid Studio Gold, which then became what it is now known as, Solid Gold.

The jeweller has worked on Hay Street his whole career in Perth and despite the potential to expand, maintains the one shop where his team designs, makes and sells the jewellery.

‘It’s grown, but we have never changed our focus to offer the best possible value and quality,’ he said.

Mr Greene’s wife Brooke, with whom he has three young children, is the company’s brand director and his adult daughters Lucy Storer, a diamond-grader, and Michelle Parkin, a web designer, are also involved.

Solid Gold’s reputation among suppliers earned him the privilege of housing the 64 Argyle pink diamonds that are part of Rio Tinto’s annual tender, in the new Hay Street premises at an official opening last month.